Accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann’s wife had few words when confronted with her husband’s arrest.
In an interview with Fox 5, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said 59-year-old Heueremann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, was shocked when she heard her husband was accused of killing three women and dumping their bodies at Gilgo Beach. Once shown some pictures, her reply was simple.
“When we told the wife, she was shocked, she was embarrassed,” Harrison explained. “But there was a point where we showed her certain pictures and she said, ‘OK, it is what it is.'”
Harrison, a former NYPD Chief who created a task force to investigate the Gilgo Beach killings last year when he joined Suffolk County PD as police commissioner, added that the killer himself was equally quiet when they arrested him on July 13 in Manhattan.
“As soon as we informed him he’d be placed under arrest, we put him inside the vehicle, read him his Miranda rights. He asked for a lawyer and that was the end of the conversation,” Harrison said.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Heuermann is charged with the death of three of the four women known collectively as the Gilgo 4. The bodies were found within days of each other on Gilgo Beach in December 2010. All four women were buried in burlap sacks.
Heuerman has been charged with six counts of murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and is the prime suspect in the death of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Harrison credits the task force with their hard work that helped bring Heuremann into custody, and says they continue to investigate other unsolved murders that could possibly be connected to Heuremann.
“When we brought the task force in, one of the state police had a database that allowed it to happen and that’s when this case started getting legs and that’s how we were able to move forward with the investigation.”
Investigators said that Ellerup, who filed for divorce following the arrest, was either out of the state or out of the country when her husband allegedly carried out the killings. Although her hair strands were found “on or near three of the victims,” prosecutors said, she is not considered a suspect at this point.
Investigators found one hair on murder victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes, recovered from a belt used to bind her. Investigators also found the wife’s hair on victims Waterman and Costello, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, supermarket cashiers at a nearby Massapequa Park store knew the wife and the children over the years as a quiet family that shopped frequently, The New York Times reports. In over 25 years, however, Heuermann never joined Ellerup or the children on the shopping trips.
“He never came with them,” store manager Mery Salmeri said. “I’m not sure what that says about them.”
Salmeri added that Ellerup appeared depressed and usually shopped for groceries with food stamps. Salmeri said she remembered that since food stamps are rarely used at her store.
Neighbor Etienne DeVilliers told the New York Post that Ellerup was “quiet.”
The family was also known for their reclusive and enigmatic nature, according to neighbors. They rarely socialized, and their unkempt house was a reflection of their reserved lifestyle, they added, which rarely had visitors.
Not much is yet known about the couple’s son, but their daughter, Victoria, 26, reportedly worked with Heuermann.
On Friday, Ellerup arrived at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead before Heuremann’s arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to a plethora of charges.
When approached by Newsday, she said, “Please leave me alone. I will not be saying anything.”
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[Featured image: Ava Ellerup/Facebook; Rex Heuermann/Suffolk County Police Department via AP]
